by Gill James
malted milk
"Honey it looks as if it's going to be
pretty bad." Lydia turned away from the TV set and looked at her husband.
"Should we start packing?"
"Do you think that the Lord would
leave us die? Don't you think we should be doing His will?"
"Of course, dear."
Lydia wasn't so convinced, though.
They'd said it would be a category four. That could wipe out whole buildings.
Lots of trees would come down. The power would most likely fail and the damage
might take weeks if not months to put right. And they'd told everybody to
evacuate.
Bill put his arm around her.
"Don't you worry, sweetheart. He will provide." He sighed.
"Anyway, I think it’s a sure sign that the end is nigh." He rubbed
her arm and brushed her cheek. "Now, I'm going to have a quiet time and
prepare to meet my maker. I'll be in the study if you need me."
The rain started at that very instant.
Lydia watched it cascade down the window panes for hours as she listened to
further weather reports. It was getting worse by the minute and the TV reports
weren't encouraging. Then there were claps of thunder and flashes of lightning,
both more violent than she'd ever seen before. One particularly loud clap made
the house shake. Was it going to fall down?
"Bill," she called.
"Bill?"
But he didn't answer.
Then Cormy and Suzy appeared at the
top of the stairs. "Mummy, we're scared," whined Cormy.
"Come on then. Come downstairs
and sit with me."
Bill appeared on the landing.
"What's going on? It's no good being soft with them, Lydia. Children, go
back to bed. The Lord will provide."
Suzy started crying, but took Cormy's
hand and the two of them began to make their way back upstairs. Before they
reached the top, however there was another almighty bang. The lights went out.
"That's the power line,
Bill."
Suzy and Cormy began to scream.
"Say what you like, Bill. I'm
getting them out of here. She ran upstairs, gathered the two children in her
arms and led them outside, collecting hats and coats on the way. Once outside
she wrapped them and herself up as warmly as she could.
She watched in horror as the house was
hit by yet more violent lightning. It burst into flames. "Run," she
shouted. Where was Bill? Oh, she'd have to worry about him later.
They ran as far as they could and then
when they had no more breath they turned to watch the house burn. She was
relieved, or at least she realised she ought to be as she saw her husband
limping towards them. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. His dog collar
was firmly fixed to the top of his crease-less white shirt.
The children were sobbing and
screaming.
Within a few minutes there was no more
of the home that she and Bill had built up over fifteen years.
Still the rain torrented down.
"I'm sorry, said Bill.”I just
wanted to keep all of you safe from the others. I really thought it was going
to be the end of the world."
"Bill, it's a goddamn hurricane,
that's all. We could have been safe and dry in one of those refuges if we'd
left when they told us to."
Bill looked as if he was going to cry.
Lydia remembered how she had first fallen in love with him. He was a big softy
really. She shook her head and touched his arm. "You and your precious
principles."
Bill stood up straighter, fiddled with
his dog collar and frowned slightly. He pulled them all into an embrace.
"The Lord will provide."
There was another huge clap of thunder
and a flash of lightning.
Lydia doubted He would.
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